A grant from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) could be a new solution for an old problem facing Mount Airy regarding the operation of the fire department’s aerial truck.

The city board of commissioners will decide during a meeting Thursday night whether Mount Airy will apply for an Assistance to Firefighters Grant through the federal agency in order to upgrade the equipment.

That grant is proposed for an aerial platform apparatus and would supply 95 percent of the funding needed for it and any associated equipment. The aerial firetruck is equipped with a ladder and bucket to help firemen battle blazes at taller buildings in town.

The condition of the present aerial truck has been a sticky issue in recent years, with the majority of the commissioners being reluctant to spend hundreds of thousands of dollars for a replacement vehicle.

In early 2009, the commissioners were advised that the existing truck was experiencing hydraulic and other problems that caused its bucket not to level properly once extended into the air. Not only was this seen as compromising safety, but subjected the municipality to costly repairs to keep the equipment operable, officials said then.

However, the commissioners resisted spending $800,000 for a new aerial truck, even on a long-term installment basis that would have spread payments over a 20-year period, because of the potential impact on the property-tax rate.

The issue arose again during a planning retreat this past February when then-Fire Chief Chip Osborne told the commissioners that the aerial truck needed about $25,000 in repairs. Osborne explained that while the ladder is operable, hydraulic and pumping systems that operate the equipment were continuing to cause problems and limiting its use.

With the repair route seemingly favored over a new ladder truck, grant assistance was viewed then as a possible solution to the city government’s ongoing problem regarding the firefighting equipment. It’s one that former Commissioner Tom Bagnal said “keeps coming back like a broke brother-in-law” during a February 2009 meeting.

The Assistance to Firefighters Grants offered through FEMA, which is part of the Department of Homeland Security, have been available since 2001. They are awarded for a variety of needs faced by firefighters and first-responders, including equipment, protective gear, emergency vehicles, training and other resources. Congress appropriated $390 million for grants in the 2010 fiscal year.

Commissioner Dean Brown said Tuesday that he believes a successful grant application for the apparatus would remedy the aerial truck problem, although it would take about two years to get the repairs accomplished through the program.

He says enough funds could be found in the city coffers to cover the 5 percent of the cost the grant wouldn’t pay for, especially since Mount Airy would be avoiding a more-costly option.

“The city’s tight,” Brown said of its financial outlook and the fact it lacks money for major equipment expenditures. Board members are trying to do everything possible to avoid property-tax and utility hikes, with Brown adding that this year’s budget outlook is even tighter than last year’s when a freeze on such capital expenditures was imposed.